markwillnevercry's review against another edition

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0.5

So, there is a bit to tell. I really did not like this book. You might think "Ah, so you did not like it, because it was bad", but it wasn't. Marjane Satrapi does a very good job of showing how she grew up and how stuff changed her. However, it felt a bit like listening to your friend go through absolute shit, without recognizing that you also have problems that you have to deal with. Marjane Satrapi just kept going, because she wanted to tell her story and it was uncomfortable to read, specifically the Vienna part. As a separate note, this book is just in general giving the vibe of "i do not care about the way you feel, because i will never reflect on this", so we got slutshaming and fatphobia. I kind of feel like I wasted my time with this book. 

Reading notes:

Momo sucks ass.

She just accused man of a crime he didn't commit? And what she accused him of is not even comparible of her wearing lipstick? And her and her boyfriend are so happy about it? They deserve each other. 

The scene with the pills in uni. Just like, girly, if you have something on your heart, maybe don't throw it at the first person you see?

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issyd23's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

So heartbreaking but very punk rock 5🤘

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morebedsidebooks's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny reflective

4.0

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi is a candid an immensely successful graphic memoir detailing coming-of-age amid revolution, war, and migration. A title with such influence reaching great heights that Persepolis might need little introduction. It certainly is easy thinking about francophone writers or comics in French for the Iranian creator Marjane Satrapi and Persepolis to come to mind.  For my part I am surprised even over twenty years later how I again can pick up the comics and a new part will jump out at me. It’s black/white aesthetic and paneling, sometimes overflowing with text or quietly speaking silently yet powerfully on their own engages the reader. No wonder it has subsequently inspired others (such as Marguerite Abouet) to tell their own stories through the medium of sequential art. Too as a title that has continued to be a subject of controversy, it is worth highlighting the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund’s resources on Persepolis . In addition to the two volume or single omnibus editions of the comic, (in English translated by Mattias Ripa and Blake Ferris, lettering Eve Deluze with additional hand lettering Céline Merrien) I’d also encourage people to search out the 2007 animated film adaptation. Using traditional animation techniques that give beautiful results. 

Persepolis reminds us not only of the liveliness, cruelty, and efforts to make sense of the world, but identity, transitions, and resilience in the face of fundamentalism and crossing foreign cultures. 


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lynxpardinus's review

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challenging emotional informative reflective

4.5


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theasbookworld's review against another edition

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3.5


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internationalreads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring fast-paced

4.5


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anniefwrites's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced
I had previously read part 1 of Persepolis but hadn't gotten around to reading the second part, so I was happy to read the complete collection all together. I feel like Satrapi accomplishes a great deal in this graphic memoir--it's a coming-of-age story, a country's modern history, an exploration of religious tradition and a desire for individuality. I think I could have benefited from knowing a bit more about the Islamic Revolution in Iran ahead of time because I struggled a bit to keep up with the political goings-on, but I think she did as good a job as she could have of condensing such complex issues into images with little text. Her style is so recognizable and works well with the narrative she's telling. 

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alyxinthestars's review against another edition

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slow-paced

4.0


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bluejayreads's review against another edition

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emotional sad

4.5

This is a memoir in graphic novel format, which is not something I’ve seen before. The art was very simplistic – not in a bad way, but it cut out a lot of visual detail to get to the heart of the story. I struggle with graphic novels usually, but this one was a little easier since it didn’t have a lot of visual complexity to distract from the words, and Marjane grew a beauty mark as a teenager which helped distinguish her from the other characters. 

Being a memoir, there’s not so much a plot as themes. It’s a coming-of-age story, it’s a story of a fairly liberal country being crushed by a religious extremist government, it’s a story of a child struggling to understand the changes in her world as she grows up. It’s dark, sad, and heartbreaking by turns, but there’s also happy moments of joy and love and respite. 

I vaguely remember learning about the Islamic Revolution in history – although being homeschooled by extremely Christian parents, it was more “Iran was just about to realize that all successful and advanced societies are Christian and convert, but the wreched Muslims didn’t want to see people following the true god so they took over and forced everyone to be Muslim again” than actual history. Marjane takes the names and dates of history and gives a face to a citizen. She is a single story out of millions, but her story brings to life what it was like to live in Iran during that era, and later what it was like to leave everything in Iran and study in Austria, a country far away from the Islamic Revolution. 

Marjane tells her story well, and the accompanying art highlights what she tells. It is fascinating and compelling, and gives a voice to the ordinary people who lived under the Islamic Revolution regime. I think it is very worth reading. 

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lou_o_donnell's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring sad tense fast-paced

4.0


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